Much Ado About Who
by CptScarlett
Summary: This is my Much Ado about Nothing inspired Doctor Who story. You can guess who our Benedick and Beatrice are. This is a loose adaptation of both stories and picks up in the Doctor Who universe during Season 4, Episode: Journey's End. Please keep in mind this is a 'loose adaptation' and obviously creates an Alternate Universe storyline.
1. Chapter 1

"Oh, no! You're not sending me off with her! She's so obsessed with you that she practically tore up _-two-_ universes to get to you, she's not getting _me_ as a—as a— _consolation prize_ or something! I will not be some sort of _replacement_ boyfriend! Not on your life, Spaceman!" the Doctor's duplicate argued, slipping into some of his Donna-side, spouting her preferred nickname for the Time Lord. He looked between the Doctor, Jack, and Mickey who stood together in the TARDIS library, in a 'private' conference of sorts. "Besides, you know as well as I do—we've no idea what the ramifications of the biological metacrisis are for Donna _or_ me. Until then, it's not wise that we split up. _And_ It's like—I'm like—your _brother_ —are you really willing to send me off into a parallel universe when we've just met?"

It was strange, Mickey thought, watching the Doctor's duplicate get wound up like this. It had been a short time now that he had known Donna, but she had a strong enough personality that it didn't take long to pick up on it. He had known the Doctor, and this version of the Doctor, a much longer time. The Duplicate really was a strange mesh of both their personalities, the pitch of his voice going up much like the Doctor's did when he got wound up about something, and he was definitely getting louder, much like Donna did. "Hey, excuse me, DocTwo, but it was just a suggestion. We're all throwing out suggestions here."

'Yeah, well. You can throw that one right out the window, Mickey Mouse." the Duplicate glared at him.

"Look, I'm on your side, believe it or not! I tried to tell her that the Boss didn't fancy her like that anymore!" Mickey argued in his own defense. "She wouldn't believe me! Said I was just jealous! When we found out she had jumped through, Jackie and I followed as quickly as we could to try and—minimize the damage—"

"Well if you're not going back, and the twin here isn't going back with her, and the Doctor is definitely not going back—you think Jackie can handle her?" Jack asked Mickey.

"I don't think she's going to have a choice. And we're going to have to make a quick exit," the Duplicate responded.

The Doctor had been the quietest of the four. He wasn't sure why, but he had brought the other three men in with him, hoping for some consolation, some idea, as to how to handle Rose Tyler. All he had said when they first came in was, "What am I supposed to do about Rose?" and the other men had taken over the conversation. He half listened to their ideas, dismissing them as quickly if not quicker than they had, and the other half of his brain was chastising himself for even getting into his mess. He was now pacing back and forth, hands alternately running through his hair and rubbing the back of his neck. After a few minutes he realized the other three had gone quiet and were now watching him. He stopped, staring at them all with a helpless look.

His duplicate, well at least in appearance, half in personality, and as for the rest he wasn't sure, was the first to speak after the long silence. "Were you listening to a thing we said?"

"Everything. You know that. Just thinking. I can't say I hadn't considered leaving you with her." He sighed, considering the man in front of him. "But no, I wouldn't do that to you. I can't expect you to love her if I don't anymore." He bowed his head a moment, thinking about the last several years. "I'm just—I'm a different man now. So much has happened. So many things. I've got—" He looked around, looking for the answer in the air.

The other three men glanced at each other, waiting for the Doctor to say the name they could see on the tip of his tongue.

"I've got a different perspective on life—" The three other men sighed and slumped their shoulders in unison. "—on what it means to be a Time Lord, what it means to be the Doctor." He sighed, again.

His three friends glanced at each other again. Why were they surprised he wouldn't include Donna? Even to Mickey, who had been gone for so long in the parallel universe, it was obvious this new companion of the Doctor's was more than _just_ a companion; he had finally found his equal, someone who held him to a higher standard and who wouldn't put up with his antics.

"Doc," Jack said quietly. "You don't have to defend yourself to us. We all get it. I loved Rose, too. But we all move on, we all change. And it's just a bit disturbing that she brushes off the ramifications of what she's done to get back here."

The Doctor nodded, then looked at Mickey, then back to Jack. "You two will stay on board till we're done with this?"

"Till the bitter end, Doc. We're your friends. That's what friends are for, right?" Jack smiled and patted his friend on the shoulder.

"Yeah, Boss, I've pulled you out of trouble so many times now, I could do it blindfolded." Mickey winked at the man and patted his other shoulder.

The Doctor gave a small smile to the men, then nodded towards his duplicate. "If you two don't mind, I need a word with my—brother."

Jack and Mickey nodded and left the two alone, heading back out to join the women in the control room.

The Duplicate looked at the Doctor a long moment before speaking, "So, you're really going to think of me that way—as your brother? I thought you might be too _ashamed_ of my actions."

The Doctor stared back, and it felt almost like looking into a mirror, except for the different colored outfit. He sighed and stepped closer. "Who am I to judge _you_ for our actions? I was angry, disappointed, overwhelmed by the whole situation. But really, at that moment, I realized – you don't just look like me, you have all my memories, don't you?" The Duplicate didn't falter his gaze as he nodded in response. "I suspected as much. You looked at the Daleks and you knew what you had to do, based on what you know from my history. You saw it as the only way out, and had it been different circumstances, I probably would have too. I've already done it once, well, I thought I did it. Obviously, it didn't quite work out the way we hoped."

"I'm glad that you're willing to accept me then, as family." The Duplicate smiled, and it grew wider as it was mirrored by the Doctor.

"I could use some family right about now," the Doctor responded and embraced his brother for a moment before pulling back. "But we've got to get you a name. None of this 'DocTwo' or 'Dupe" stuff. A proper name."

"I had some ideas about that, but I wanted Donna to be present for that," the Duplicate stated, and quickly noticed a change of expression on the Doctor's face.

"About-that—your memories, my memories. If they carried with them the anger for the Daleks, can I presume that you know my feelings about other things as well?" The Doctor was now avoiding eye contact, glancing around the library, tapping a book that sat on a nearby table.

"That would be a fair presumption. However, my feelings are my own, brother. It seems, from what I can surmise from everything swirling around in my brain, that I carry both your memories and Donna's. My personality seems to be yours and hers stirred up in a pot and poured out. So, my reactions, my feelings, on the memories I access are based on a mix of things. I believe it makes them uniquely mine, not necessarily how one or the other of you feels about anything."

The Doctor's face grew very serious and he frowned at this twin. "Then you must promise me something, brother. You will under _NO_ circumstances reveal what you know to her."

"But brother, shouldn't you—" his Duplicate argued.

"No. Under NO circumstances. I will not do it, I will not think it, I will not share it," the Doctor stated firmly, with more conviction than his duplicate had seen him portray since his 'birth' not too long ago. "I will not ruin the best thing that has happened to me—the best person that has ever stepped foot into this TARDIS."

His duplicate sighed, looking at his brother sadly, his shoulders slumping. "Very well, brother. Your secrets are safe with me and forevermore shall be."

The Doctor nodded, satisfied by his new brother's answer. "Now, your name?"

At that moment the library door slid open and Donna peered in. "I was sent to check on you two?" She frowned. "Rose is getting impatient." She then sighed and looked down as she stepped in, allowing the door to slide shut behind her. "I suppose she's anxious for you to get me back to Chiswick."

It was the Doctor's turn to frown, and his brow furrowed as he exclaimed, "What?!" His brother's jaw dropped, but he remained quiet, waiting to see how the Doctor was going to handle this. It was time for the Doctor to clear up some things with Donna.

Donna looked back up at him, a terribly sad look in her eyes. "I believe she's under the _appropriate_ assumption that I'll be dropped off at Mum and Gramps' so you two can go adventuring together."

"What on Earth made you think that was an _appropriate_ assumption?"

Donna glared at him, equally confused and getting a bit annoyed because she was upset enough and he wasn't making this easy. "Because. It's. Rose. Your Rose. You love her. Bloody hell, Spaceman, do you have to make this so difficult? Just get your arse out there, please, and take me back to Chiswick."

"Donna," the Doctor spoke quietly, slowly and carefully walking up to her. His twin watched the interaction, wondering if this might be the moment that the two of them _finally_ admitted their feelings for each other. As the Doctor spoke again, his voice cracked and was filled with sadness. "Donna, you said you were going to travel with me forever."

"Doctor, I—" Donna began, unable to hide the confusion in her voice. "It wouldn't be right for me to be hanging around when you and Rose—"

"Donna!" The Doctor tried to keep his voice quiet, but the exasperation was getting through. "Donna there is _no more 'me and Rose'!_ "

"What!?" It was Donna's turn to be exasperated. "But you—you always talk about her—"

The Doctor interrupted her. "When was the last time, before she showed up in that alternate timeline built around you because of the Trickster—when was the last time I spoke about her?"

"Well it was just—when we—well I guess it has been a while, hasn't it?" Her voice grew into a whisper as she realized that it really _had_ been a long time since he had mentioned Rose.

"I've changed, Donna. I'm not the same person I was when you first met me. I'm not—I don't—I don't love her anymore." Donna just stared at him, unable to believe what she was hearing. She stayed quiet, so he continued, "I'm taking her back to the parallel universe with her mother. My brother—" He turned towards his twin self and Donna's gaze turned towards him as well. "—Is going to travel with _us_ for a while. We've got to figure out this biological metacrisis, what it did to both of you. How it's going to further affect your brain."

Donna continued to stare, mouth agape, between the Doctor and his twin. Eventually her gaze landed back on the Doctor. "So—I can still travel with you? You're going to take me to all those planets I have swirling around in my brain now?"

The Doctor grinned. "Try and stop me, Donna Noble." He then grew serious, brow furrowing. "So, I take it, since my earlier revelation was such a surprise that you—you didn't get my memories in the metacrisis?"

"No, just all this knowledge. I guess he," she said as she pointed with her thumb towards his twin, "got all your memories."

"So, speaking of me—the Doctor here was asking me about a name—and I had some thoughts, but I wanted to share them with both of you, together," he said as he looked between the two people who made him the person he now was.

"Okay, what's your name going to be then?" Donna asked curiously.

"I was thinking—Geoffrey Horatio Smith"

Donna and the Doctor both gasped, and Donna whispered, "Geoffrey, after my father—"

"The person you trusted the most in life," the Duplicate explained.

"And Horatio?" Donna questioned.

"Horatio was best friend and most trusted to Hamlet," the Duplicate continued as he looked to the Doctor.

"My favorite Shakespeare play," the Doctor said quietly.

"I hope that I can be someone that you both consider trustworthy—whether it be as a friend or a brother—whatever it is you wish."

"Geoffrey," Donna whispered. "Geoffrey Horatio Smith—it's beautiful."

Geoffrey smiled as did the Doctor and Donna and they embraced each other, before the Doctor sighed and stepped back. "Well, here we go then—into the fray."


	2. Chapter 2

Dropping Rose off in the parallel universe had been as difficult as they expected. As Mickey expected, Jackie was understanding and did her best to hold her daughter back as the rest of the group left in the TARDIS, although Rose had broken free and almost made it to the TARDIS as it dematerialized. Had she been a moment quicker she could have once again caused catastrophic damage to the ship as well as potentially leading to the death of all within her. The trip through the rift between the universes was dangerous enough, having a hitchhiker would have made it impossible.

Once done, the Doctor pointed the ship back towards Cardiff where Jack, Mickey, Martha, and even Sarah Jane, had planned on having lunch before going their separate ways. Sarah Jane had called Luke and was assured by he and Mr. Smith that all was safe and sound at her home.

"We've got to get to Chiswick so Donna can check on her mother and grandfather, otherwise we'd stay for lunch," the Doctor explained as the others made their way to the TARDIS doors.

"Doctor, do you mind if I stay for lunch while you and Donna go? You can stop back by and pick me up in a couple hours? It might be best if we postpone me meeting Donna's family till you're able to explain things. Seeing two of you might be a bit much with everything else there is to tell." Geoffrey explained.

The Doctor was a little surprised, but not too concerned. "Sure, I'll let you know when we're ready to come pick you up. Our telepathic connection should be strong enough already to handle that."

Donna grabbed the Doctor's twin before he headed down the ramp. "Hey, Geoff—can I talk to you a minute? In private?"

He glanced to the group leaving and Jack nodded in understanding, then he turned back to Donna. "Sure, what's up?"

Donna slid her arm around his and led him towards the TARDIS kitchen, the closest room to the console room. He glanced back at the Doctor as he was escorted out, and the Time Lord gave him a glare. As if he needed a reminder of their earlier conversation.

Once they were there, she turned to him. "Geoff, I just wanted to check on something—when you first appeared, and we were talking, you said you could see my thoughts in your head. So you have all my memories, right?"

He nodded and hid as best he could the disappointment with where he saw this conversation heading. "Yes, that's right."

"Well, then I assume if you know how I felt about myself, then you probably have an idea of how I have felt, at _times_ , about _other_ people." Donna was pacing the floor, and staring at her own feet, unwilling to look Geoff in the eyes.

He sighed. This Doctor/Donna combination of memories was getting complicated. "I believe I know what you are referring to, yes."

Then, if it is really your wish for me to trust you," she said as she stopped her pacing and glared up at him. "You _must_ promise me that you will _not_ , under any circumstances, tell the Doctor what you have seen in my head, in my memories."

Geoff rolled his eyes and whined, "But Donna—"

"No 'buts'—under _no_ circumstances. All he wanted was a _mate_ and I'm not going to make things complicated like Martha did. Understood?" She continued to glare, the one that could make whole armies cower.

He sighed again. "Yes, Donna. Understood." He turned on his heel, waiting till his face was out of her field of vision before rolling his eyes again. He marched through the console room and down the ramp to join the others. What he hadn't told the Doctor or Donna was that Jack had asked him to join them for lunch so they could discuss 'a few things' regarding the Time Lord and his companion. Could he possibly be put in a more awkward position?

* * *

"Okay, so we've convened this unofficial first meeting of the Former Companions Club, and asked Geoff here to join us, so that we can discuss a matter of upmost importance," Jack said after they had ordered lunch at the café he had led them to.

"Cut the bull, _Captain_ _Beefcake_ , and get down to business. We're talking about the Doctor and Donna, right?" Mickey Smith questioned.

"Of course, that's who we're talking about! The Doctor and I were close for a number of years when I was his companion. I've never seen him _so_ taken with anyone, yet so blind to his own feelings!" Sarah Jane enthusiastically chimed in.

"And Donna, she's so busy blustering on about what a skinny thing he is, when really, have you seen the way she looks at him when he's not paying attention?" Martha added.

"Alright then, the four of us are agreed!" Jack nodded his head. "Geoff, you're being curiously quiet over there, you know both of them so well, with all their memories jumbled up there in your head—what do you think?"

All four of the former companions looked Geoff's way. He took a deep breath, deciding how to move forward. "I think that," he said slowly, "I have made promises to both the Doctor and Donna that I would be sensitive to sharing their memories and feelings with each other. And I feel it's only fair that I am careful with what I share with others as well." He looked between the faces who seemed mildly disappointed. "I _will_ however say that, in _my_ opinion your thoughts seem—" He balanced his words carefully as he bounced his head back and forth, then he leaned forward, tapping his nose with one finger as he chose his final word, "—validated."

Jack grinned first, then the others joined him.

"But!" Geoff continued. "You are going to have to be careful how you proceed. They are both very _sensitive_ about these matters."

Sarah Jane smiled and leaned forward, speaking quietly, "Well I have a _brilliant_ idea—"


	3. Chapter 3

"Thanks so much for coming for tea, Donna. I hope your mother wasn't too bothered," Sarah Jane smiled at the red-head as she filled the electric kettle with water.

"On, it's no problem, I'm happy to get to spend some time with you and Martha. It's nice having friends who understand what it's like traveling with the Doctor. Where did Martha go off to?" Donna smiled.

"She had to make a phone call in the lounge. Oh, I almost forgot! Donna, do you mind keeping an eye on the kettle? I need to go be sure Luke isn't running an experiment upstairs in his bedroom. Anytime he's got it going the kettle blows a fuse. It's the problem with old houses these days," Sarah Jane said, already halfway out the door.

"Sure, no problem!" Donna smiled back. After Sarah Jane left it was quiet for a few moments and Donna started looking at pictures on the refrigerator of Luke and his friends, and a very old one of Sarah Jane laughing with some old curly haired chap with a long multi-colored scarf on.

After a few minutes, the kettle had finished its cycle and the water was boiled, so Donna went ahead and poured the water into the three mugs Sarah Jane had already prepared with tea bags. She set the mugs onto the tray with the plate of biscuits the older woman had pulled out and started to carry them into the lounge. As she neared the door she heard Martha and Sarah Jane speaking.

"I'm telling you, Sarah Jane, that's what Mickey said! I just got off the phone with him! He says the Doctor is absolutely nuts about her! But he's scared to death to say anything because she's always going on about how unattractive she finds him—you've heard her call him a 'skinny streak of nothing' and you've only been around them a day now! They made some pact about only wanting to be 'mates' and now he's sworn he'll keep his feelings secret for the rest of his regenerations!"

Donna jumped and gasped from outside the door, almost spilling tea on herself. Could it be true that the Doctor had feelings for her? She didn't see that inside the door the two women were grinning at each other and had heard her gasp.

"Well it's definitely true that the Doctor doesn't know what to do with his feelings. I just can't believe after all these years he's finally fallen in love with one of his companions!" Sarah Jane replied.

"This is Donna we're talking about! She's positively brilliant, she stands up to him better than any of us ever have before. It's exactly what he needs, having someone like her!" Martha said. Donna gained a self-indulgent look of pride, but only for a moment before Martha spoke again. "But she's so wrapped up in thinking of him as a friend, could she ever look at him differently?"

Sarah Jane sighed loudly. "Well, I should go check on her and the tea. It's so sad to think the Doctor will have to hide such love."

Donna quickly moved away and acted as if she was just approaching as Sarah Jane walked up. She did her best to hide the shock on her face of what she had just heard. "I've brought the tea!"

"Oh, Donna, thank you so much!"

* * *

"Hey, thanks Doc for coming to help us straighten out this issue. I told Gwen that if anyone could figure out the crazy Rift readings we're getting, it'd be you." Jack said as he escorted the Doctor and Geoff into the Torchwood Hub. "Excuse the mess, we're still cleaning up after the Dalek's.

"And you say this has happened since we used the Rift Manipulator to tow Earth back?" the Doctor questioned.

"Yes, the readings have been totally inconsistent ever since then," Gwen said from her computer.

"Alright, we'll have a look," the Doctor said as he slipped his glasses on and looked at the computer screen from behind Gwen.

 _*five minutes later*_

Mickey's phone rang and he glanced at the screen, then quickly to Jack, and back to the phone. "Sorry, it's Martha, I should go take this." Mickey started to wander off as he answered the phone, "Hello…"

"Geoff, go take a look at the sensors on the manipulator, tell me if anything looks out of place," the Doctor said as he pointed to several readings for Gwen to select. "See, it's definitely not the Rift—it's the sensors."

After a few moments, Jack glanced in the direction Mickey had gone. "I need to go check on Ianto, he's taking an awfully long time with the coffee."

The Doctor frowned and eyed him over his eyeglasses. "Just make sure 'checking on him' is all you're doing, Jack. We might need you here quickly."

 _*another few minutes later*_

"Oh, I think I've got it, Doctor! The sensor is out of alignment!" Geoff grunted a moment, then spoke again, "I'm going to need Jack _and_ Mickey if I'm going to get this pushed back into place, while you watch the readings."

The Doctor growled. "Alright, I'll go get them. Don't know what's taking so long anyway." He dropped his glasses on the desk and walked in the direction Jack and Mickey had gone. He had made it down a hall and was about to go around a corner when he stopped as he heard voices.

"I'm not kidding, Jack—it's what Martha said! Donna is over there crying her eyes out! All that's happened and she's just not sure if she can continue traveling with him if she has to hide her feelings!"

"Donna Noble _in love_ with the Doctor? Blimey, why does he get all the good ones?" Jack exclaimed in return.

"Hey, watch it!" Ianto piped up.

"Oh, you know what I mean! You saw her on the screen, Ianto—she's gorgeous! And let me tell you, she's as brilliant as she is gorgeous, except for this maybe. Why'd she have to fall for the Doc? I think he's determined to be single the rest of his lives." Jack sighed.

The Doctor almost audibly whooped out in alarm, but he slapped his hand over his mouth just in time. Could it be true that Donna had feelings for him, too?

"Well you know the only reason she goes on and on about how skinny he is and all that is to try and hide what she's really thinking. All because of that pact of 'only mates' they made when she started traveling with him." Mickey explained.

The Doctor backed away from where he was standing and took a deep breath, closing his eyes as he gathered his wits, then cleared his throat and started to walk back towards the door. "Jack, Mickey—we need you, now!"


	4. Chapter 4

"Hi Sarah Jane, I'm just here to pick Donna up. Is she—okay? I mean, is she still here?" the Doctor enquired, looking over Sarah Jane's shoulder into the house.

"Of course, Doctor. Come on in and I'll get her," Sarah Jane said as she let the Doctor in then turned to go further into the house. "Donna! The Doctor is here!"

Donna came down the stairs with a bit of hop in her step. She didn't seem upset, and when she saw the Doctor the smile on her face seemed delighted. "Hello, Doctor!"

The Doctor felt quite relieved to see that she didn't seem upset, but at the same time, confused and a bit nervous. "Hi, Donna! Have you had a, um, lovely time?" he asked awkwardly.

"Yes, Sarah Jane is a wonderful hostess, and Luke is so smart! And why didn't you tell me about that K-9? You need to get another one of him on the TARDIS!" Donna spoke as she approached the Doctor, placing her hand gently on his lapel as she finished.

The Doctor glowed under her gentle affectionate touch. It wasn't an obvious sign, as they were generally a bit touchy-feely with each other, holding hands, an occasional friendly hug. But after the revelation he overheard tonight, it made him feel all warm and tingly. "Oh yes, K-9 is brilliant, but I already have one brilliant companion on the TARDIS—" the Doctor began, but was cut off first by Donna's scowl, then by her words.

"I hope you aren't comparing me to a robot dog, Doctor!" she exclaimed.

The Doctor's face went white and he started stammering, "What?! No, um, erm, no, that's not what I meant! You're _so_ much more than a robot dog, Donna!"

Donna's eyebrows were still furrowed, but she relaxed a bit. "Alright then, well, let's get back to the TARDIS. I'm feeling quite tired, I think."

"Sounds good. Thank you again, Sarah Jane, for everything. We'll be in touch," the Doctor said to his former companion before holding his arm out to Donna. She gave the Time Lord a shy smile before looping her arm through his and allowing him to escort her out of the house.

As they stepped out the door, Donna stopped in her tracks at the pouring down rain. The Doctor quickly reached into his pocket and produced an umbrella. With the push of one button it had extended and popped open and he raised it to cover them. They made it to the street and Donna looked around in confusion. "Where's the TARDIS, Doctor?"

"I parked it up the street a little way up. Nice night for a stroll. Beautiful!" he said with a smile.

Her eyebrow raised, and she glanced between him and the pouring rain and let out a chuckle. "Hmph. Nice night for ducks, maybe! Certainly not beautiful."

He scrunched his face up to purposefully show he was thinking. "Oh, right—perhaps I confused the company I'm keeping with the state of the night."

It took Donna a moment before she caught on. "You're saying I'm—" she stopped herself then and turned to look each direction before asking, "Anyway, what direction are we going?"

"This way," he said as he tugged her to the left and they started off down the pavement. After a few moments of silence, he spoke quietly, "I hope you don't mind the walk—I always did love a stroll in the rain, and I just thought it would be nice, after all the busyness of the past few days, to have a quiet moment, just the two of us."

"Yeah," she said softly, squeezing his arm a bit tighter. "It has been quite a few days, hasn't it?"

He nodded then inhaled a deep breath, his eyes getting shiny from moisture, but not that of the rain. "I thought I'd lost you—on the Crucible—it was—devastating."

"Yeah, I thought I was a goner too, for a bit." She chuckled nervously.

"Seriously, Donna. When I saw the TARDIS drop through that hole with you in it—and saw it in the core of the ship. My hearts broke. Then, when I heard the sound of the TARDIS again—and you and Geoff came running out—" He shook his head and looked up into the sky, searching for answers. "I'm just happy you're safe, Donna. And," he said before pausing to consider the situation. "It seems keeping Geoff relatively close by is helping balance out the metacrisis for both of you." He sighed quietly, considering things for a moment. "I know you don't like me 'bleeping' you Donna, but we really do need to do a scan of both you _and_ Geoff and determine what's going on."

He could feel Donna tense up beside him. She let out a breath and spoke, "Soon enough, Spaceman. Can we just be blissfully ignorant for a while?"

He stopped them, half-way between Sarah Jane's and the TARDIS. The rain was pouring down around them, thankfully his umbrella was huge and kept them relatively dry. He turned to face her. "What's wrong, Donna? Why are you frightened?"

"Who said anything about being frightened?" Donna said, defensiveness seeping into her voice.

The Doctor tried to calm her by saying, "Donna, I've known you long enough to know when you're scared. And you are scared. I can't help you if you won't tell me what's wrong."

"Doctor, I've had your knowledge crammed into my tiny human brain, and somehow survived. I don't know what that means. I don't know if I have a day or a thousand years to live. I don't know what that means for me, or for—" she stopped herself from continuing her thought. "Yeah, I'm scared, okay?"

He stopped them again and turned to face her. "Then don't you want to know? So you can stop wondering?" he asked.

"No, because if we find out I am going to live longer because of all this metacrisis mixed up brain nonsense—what if you decide—" she stopped mid thought again.

This time, the Doctor was having none of it. "Decide what, Donna? What could I possibly decide that has you so worried?"

"What if you decide you don't want to put up with me for that long? A few years, maybe. When I told you I was going to travel with you forever, you were nice to agree, Spaceman. No matter what you think you may feel—you were just being nice. I'm human, or at least as of a few days ago I was. That means shorter life span, and I'm sure you hoped to get rid of me before I became old and gray. But with your brains stuck in my head I'm not foolish enough to not know what this metacrisis might mean. And I can't bear to think of you kicking me out when you find out what forever might really mean. I'd rather us both be ignorant of what's going to happen and enjoy a few more days of travelling with you." Donna's confession spilled out so quickly that if the Doctor hadn't had his own Time Lord senses he might have missed part of her confession. But before he could respond, she had noticed a lull in the rain and had darted out from under the umbrella and was running to the TARDIS.

"Donna! Donna, wait!" he shouted for her as he closed and shoved the umbrella in his pocket, then broke out into a run to catch up. But she ignored him as she pushed the door open and was inside the ship before he could get to her.

Just as he got to the door, it was slammed shut in his face. He sighed and with a snap of his fingers it reopened and he was running in after her.

"Donna! Donna, _stop_!" he yelled with such intensity that she whirled around to face him, anger flashing in her eyes at his command. "Donna, I need you to _stop_ and _listen_. Do you know what terrifies me?"


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Chapter Song: Like I'm Gonna Lose Your (as sung by Jasmine Thompson)

* * *

" _Donna! Donna, stop!" he yelled with such intensity that she whirled around to face him, anger flashing in her eyes at his command. "Donna, I need you to stop and listen. Do you know what terrifies me?"_

* * *

She was silent, as he had hoped she would be, so he continued, "Donna, you're wrong—I wasn't just being nice when I agreed to travel with you forever! I would want nothing more than to you have here, on the TARDIS, for a thousand years, and a thousand after that. What terrifies me is that you might be gone tomorrow, or the next day, or the day after that. I can't lose you so soon—not when I've only just realized—" He paused, afraid to say more on the subject of what he had overheard earlier between his friends. "Donna, please—come with me to the medbay."

She stared at him a long moment, both of them caught in the desperation of their emotions. Both still reeling from finding out how much the other cared about them. Both with strong wills and stubborn heads that didn't want to give in. After a moment, she whispered, "No. If you care, you'll let me be." And then she quickly turned on her heel and moved out of the control room, headed down the hall, presumably to her room.

He sighed and slumped against the console, running his through his hair. It was only as his hands met the back of his neck that he noticed Geoff sitting in the jump seat, acting as if he had been casually reading a book through the whole encounter. Before speaking, the Doctor took another deep breath. "You've got to talk some sense into her."

"Oh? Why me?" Geoff asked, slightly amused, but trying to take into consideration the seriousness of the situation.

"Because obviously I'm rubbish at it! And you know as well as I do that we need to get you two checked over. Geoff, I need to know how long we've got. Unless I know if something is broken, I can't fix it!"

After a moment of thought, Geoff shook his head. "I'm sorry, Doctor, but this is between you and Donna. I won't get in the middle of it."

"What!? You're not going to help me?" the Doctor questioned with exasperation.

"Nope," Geoff said simply.

The Doctor scowled. "You are as stubborn as she is."

His twin smirked, his eyebrow perking up. "Oh, I think I got a little of that from both of you, don't you?" They were both silent for a moment, the Doctor staring down the hall the way Donna had fled, and Geoff watching his twin closely. Only the gentle hum of the TARDIS surrounded them until finally the younger of the two spoke again. "You have to decide, Doctor. What's more important—having the answers, or having Donna. Because if you try to force her—she may stay—but she'll never trust you again."

The Doctor sighed, and started to walk towards the hallway. "I'm going for a walk. Put us in the Vortex, please."

"Will do." Geoff hopped up and watched his twin leave the control room. As he began flipping switches on the console, he murmured to the ship, "Old Girl, this is going to get interesting."

* * *

The Doctor wandered the halls of the TARDIS for hours. His stomach felt sour, his chest felt tight across both his hearts, and the thoughts were churning around so quickly that his head felt like it was spinning. Eventually though, he kept coming back to the same answer. At just the moment his mind was made up, he found himself back at Donna's room. He glanced up at the ceiling in acknowledgement of the ship that had brought him back here rather quickly after the long journey he had just made.

He gently tapped on her door. "Donna? Donna, please, may I come in?"

"Go away, Spaceman," she called out.

As soon as he heard her, he could tell she had been crying—it was all he needed to hear to determine his next move. "Donna, this is your only warning—I'm coming in," he said, determined to resolve this before either of them went through more pain. He made a point of never invading Donna's privacy, her room was her own private sanctuary and he had only been in once before, when the TARDIS had first designed it for her. But this once, he was going to push his luck in order to settle things between them. As he opened the door, he continued speaking. "Before you throw something at me, Donna—please understand—I can't bear to think of you in here upset with me. It's the only reason I'm coming in against your wishes."

He glanced around, then took a moment to look closer. He had forgotten how beautiful Donna's room was, how much time the TARDIS had taken to prepare it for her. He still remembered vividly when they had got back from Pompeii and she discovered how her room had been designed and decorated just for her. It was then he knew for certain that the TARDIS hoped as much as he did that Donna would stay for a very long time. Other than his own, it was the largest bedroom he had ever seen the TARDIS design for one of his companions.

After looking around a moment he finally spotted her curled up under the covers of her bed. As he approached, he took off his coat and draped it over the back of the chair at her dressing table. He hoped she would understand it was a sign of his coming before her without his own armor on.

"I'm not going to argue with you anymore, Spaceman. Just take me home now and get it over with. I'll not have you running any scans on me," Donna insisted through her muffled sniffling.

The Doctor gently sat down on the edge of her bed, one leg folded under the other, and turned to face her. "No, Donna. I'm not taking you home." He paused a moment, resting his hand gently on her shoulder. "And I'm not scanning you, either."

Donna rolled over under the covers to face him. His hand that had been on her shoulder moved with the force of her own turn and ended up back on his own knee. "What?" she questioned in confusion.

He slowly reached his hand back out, this time to cup her cheek in his palm, swiping away a tear with his thumb. With a slow nod he explained, "If it's that important to you that we not scan you and find out what happened, then it will remain a mystery."

She sat up in bed, resting her hands on his forearms. "Really? No funny business? You won't scan me while I'm not watching—or when I'm asleep. You're okay with not knowing?"

"Okay? No. I won't lie and tell you that I don't still want to know. But if it's that important to you, I'll do my best to push it aside. No matter what we found out—even if it was just a few hours that we had left, I'd rather have them with you by my side than to have you holed up in here upset or angry with me. There's no piece of knowledge that's worth not having you by my side, Donna. So, please, Donna, whether it's hours, weeks, months, years, lifetimes—spend it traveling with me."

"You'd do that for me, Doctor? You'll let it go—you'll live without knowing what the future holds?" Donna whispered, only just then realizing how close they were to each other as she gazed into his eyes.

"Wait—wait right here," he said quietly but quickly as he slipped away, back to the chair where his coat rested. He slipped his hand in his pocket and brought his sonic screwdriver out. He came back and sat back exactly where he had been, just as close as before. He took her hand and set his sonic screwdriver into it. "Here, you take this. Keep it—" he started to explain but she interrupted him.

"You're giving me your sonic screwdriver?"

"Just until you feel safe and sure that I'm keeping my promise. No scanning, no 'bleeping.' Not unless you want me to. I don't want you worrying that I'm going to sneak into your room at night—well, not for that anyway." Her eyebrow perked up, but he continued so quickly she couldn't comment. "Just remember to bring it with you when we go out on our travels. Don't want to be stuck in a jail cell with no way of getting out, do we?"

"Oh, Doctor. I—," Donna started, but this time the Doctor interrupted her.

"Donna, I'd burn up the stars if that's what it takes to prove myself to you," he whispered in declaration.

Donna looked down a moment, thinking about his words. "You mean, like you did for Rose?"

"I used a fixed point supernova—one that was already dying—in order to power the projection I used to say _goodbye_ to Rose," he explained, then gently his hand rested on her cheek again. "I'm telling _you_ , Donna Noble, I'll do whatever it takes to _keep you with me._ " There was another pause, then finally, he gave in to the words he had been wanting to say for quite some time. "I love _you_ , Donna."

She gasped at his words. Hearing him say it was so much more than hearing the gossip of her two friends. "I—I love you, too, Doctor."

His own gasp followed at hearing her words. Together they smiled at each other for another long moment.

And then the cloister bell rang out through the ship as it began shaking. The Doctor growled as he hopped up and started to run for the door. "Grr, of all the timing! C'mon Donna, time to do some of that adventuring I promised you! Don't forget the sonic!"


	6. Chapter 6

" _I used a fixed point supernova—one that was already dying—in order to power the projection I used to say goodbye to Rose," he explained, then gently his hand rested on her cheek again. "I'm telling you, Donna Noble, I'll do whatever it takes to keep you with me." There was another pause, then finally, he gave in to the words he had been wanting to say for quite some time. "I love you, Donna."_

 _She gasped at his words. Hearing him say it was so much more than hearing the gossip of her two friends. "I—I love you, too, Doctor."_

 _His own gasp followed at hearing her words. Together they smiled at each other for another long moment._

 _And then the cloister bell rang out through the ship as it began shaking. The Doctor growled as he hopped up and started to run for the door. "Grr, of all the timing! C'mon Donna, time to do some of that adventuring I promised you! Don't forget the sonic!"_

* * *

Donna jumped up, thankful she still had on her clothes, and quickly pulled on her sneakers that still sat by the bed. She held his sonic screwdriver in her hand and grabbed his coat on her way to follow him. Only then did she realize he had stopped at the door, hand held out waiting for her to take it. The grin on his face made her shake her head. Always ready for trouble, her Spaceman, and rather excited to get into it.

"Together," he stated as he grasped her free hand.

When they came into the control room Geoff looked up from the console and smiled when he saw them holding hands. "Good then, you two have worked things out. That's good, because we're going to need all the brain power we can get on this."

"What's happened?" the Doctor questioned his brother.

"Well, I was tinkering when—," Geoff started.

"Geoffrey Horatio Smith, have you got us into trouble?" Donna barked out as she handed the Doctor his coat and he began putting it on.

"Oi! You are _not_ my mother, no use of full names necessary! And _no_ I did I _not_ get us into trouble, thank you very much! As I put us into the vortex I noticed a strange reading from Earth. So I started tinkering to build a Rhondium Particle Detector." He held up the handheld device he had been working on the past few hours while the Doctor had roamed the ship and had his talk with Donna. "See, look at the little dish, it spins when we're close." He grinned, proud of his creation. Then frowned when he thought again about what had happened. "Anyway, I linked the detector into the TARDIS so that the Old Girl could help me do a planet-wide scan of Earth and she went berserk!"

"Well." the Doctor frowned as well. "Your timing couldn't have been worse. Thanks." He pulled the console screen closer and began reviewing his brother's scans. "Oh, you're right, that is strange. Alright then, back to Earth we go." He pushed the main lever on the console and the ship materialized down the street from the International Gallery.

As they started to walk down the ramp towards the door, Donna handed the sonic screwdriver to Geoff. "Here, Timeboy. You keep this. My pockets aren't big enough and I know you two have that Time Lord technology in yours."

"We could always do some tinkering with your clothes, Donna, if you'd like bigger-on-the-inside pockets as well." Geoff grinned.

"How about we don't do any more tinkering for now?" Donna said with a pat on his back as he slipped the screwdriver into his pocket.

The three of them stepped outside the TARDIS in the alleyway and looked around.

"Well, no immediate signs of trouble. I guess we'll just have a walk and see where your little detector-thingy takes us." Donna said as she stepped out of the alleyway onto the pavement to glance around. The Doctor and Geoff were just behind her and looked both ways.

The Doctor spoke first. "I say we go that way," he said, pointing in the general direction of the International Gallery.

"Why that way?" Donna asked. "You haven't got the detector thingy."

"No, but that way has a chocolate shop!" The Doctor grinned.

Donna rolled her eyes. Geoff joined his brother with a grin of his own. "Oh yes, that's definitely the way to go! See Donna, I'm certain those blinky lights mean the direction of the chocolate shop is the way to go!"

Donna sighed. "Right, so this is what it's going to be like running around with two of you. I'm outnumbered. Alright, to the chocolate shop we go."

* * *

Ten minutes later the Doctor and Geoff walked out of the shop, each with a half of a chocolate egg in their hands and boyish grins on their faces. Donna had stepped out a few minutes before and was waiting impatiently for them. "Alright, you two, let's get going. Your stomachs may have actually sent us in the right direction. Something is definitely going on at the gallery. Look at all those police cars. We should head that direction."

The Doctor looked at the Rhondium particle detector in Geoff's hand then up at Geoff, who shrugged and nodded. Donna sighed again as she looked at the two then set off in the direction of the gallery.

"Well we can't just walk in the front doors, it's after hours, let's go around and find a back alley," the Doctor nodded towards the side of the building, whispering to the two as they passed a few officers.

"Oh, look, the lights are blinking faster! I think we go this way!" Geoff pointed away from the building.

"But Geoff, the police are clearly surrounding the gallery," Donna argued.

"Donna, the detector doesn't lie! It says to go this way!" Geoff argued back.

"Donna, come on, let's follow him and see what he comes up with. We can always come back and check out the gallery," the Doctor argued in his brother's defense. The brother that was already started to walk away with the detector in front of him.

"Doctor, by then it may be too late! And that detector thing of his hasn't shown us a hint that it actually works! It could just be following the smell of the fumes from that bus!" Donna looked just in time to see Geoff stepping up onto the bus. "That bus that Geoff just got on! Geoff!" Donna yelled after him and they started to run towards it, just in time for it to drive off. Donna's jaw dropped as she watched it continue to move further away.

"Donna, come on! This way!" the Doctor shouted as he grabbed her hand and ran out into the middle of the street just in time to stop one of the police cars that had been around the gallery as it started to pull off in chase of the bus. He pulled out his psychic paper and waved it at the driver. "You're going after that bus, so are we! We need a lift!"

"UNIT? What is UNIT doing here? Alright, get in!" shouted Detective Inspector McMillan from the passenger seat.

The pursuit was on, McMillan was yelling into the handheld radio, with an operator and other policemen speaking back to him. They were now in the Gladwell Road Tunnel following after the bus when all at once in a flash of light the bus disappeared. At the same time Donna gasped out in pain and collapsed onto the Doctor.

"Donna!" the Doctor yelled out.

"It's gone. Right in front of me. The bus has just gone!" McMillan called out over the radio. He then turned to the backseat passengers. "Sir, what has happened to your—partner?"

"She's—she's passed out! It's Geoff, he was on the bus and its disappeared and now she's fainted!" the Doctor gasped out as he turned Donna over, pillowing her head in his lap. "Donna, Donna, can you hear me?"

With no response he checked her pulse and breathing and found that both were stable. He started to place his hands at her temples, then stopped quickly with a growl. "Grr, it's the same as scanning you. Argh, Donna, why did you have to make me promise? Why?" He ran his hand over her hair and a small whimper escaped him. "Donna, Donna, please. Please. Please come back to me."


	7. Chapter 7

He heard a faint moaning and then she slowly opened her eyes. "Doctor?"

He did whimper that time, in relief, and pulled her up to his chest, hugging her close. "Oh, Donna. Thank you. I thought I had lost you."

She sat up then, feeling a bit embarrassed by the two men in the front seat watching them. "How long was I out?"

"Just a few minutes. But long enough to worry me." The Doctor looked her over, paying close attention to her pupils and skin color—the most he could do without his sonic screwdriver or telepathy. "It's Geoff, the bus disappeared with him on it and you collapsed. How are you feeling?"

"Okay." She shifted positions again. "Okay, just a bit of a headache, I think."

* * *

*A few minutes later, at the north entrance to the tunnel*

They had gotten out of the car to further investigate the bus disappearance when there was another flash of light and a burning skeleton appeared out of nowhere.

Donna screamed at the sight and buried her head into the Doctor's chest. "Doctor—is it—is it Geoff"

The Doctor pulled her away long enough to slowly walk as close as he dared get, kneeling down to examine the body momentarily before getting back up and walking back to her. "No, they'll be hard pressed to get an ID on the body, but it's definitely not Geoff." He held her close and comforted her for a moment, wishing their closeness was for better reasons than such a horrific scene.

He then turned to the Detective Inspector who was speaking to one of his officers. "DI McMillan, I am telling you, this is out of your depth, and as a high ranking member of UNIT, I demand that you contact them at once," the Doctor said sternly. Normally he would try to take care of this himself, get the TARDIS, use her to scan the area, figure out the problem, get the bus and Geoff back. But he was worried about Donna, and unwilling to take his eyes off her for even a moment if he didn't have to. Not after what happened just a few minutes before in the police car.

* * *

The UNIT Captain was barking out orders to her soldiers before she ever noticed the Doctor. After a few moments he grew tired of watching her and approached. "Excuse me, Captain, is it?"

"Yes, please clear the area, thank you," the Captain said without even looking up to see who was speaking.

"I think you might want to hear what I have to say, Captain," the Doctor said more firmly this time.

It was enough to make the Captain look up. She was taken aback a moment and then stood up straight. "Captain Erisa Magambo, sir." She saluted, and the Doctor rolled his eyes. "Might I say, it is an honor, sir." The Captain then turned to Donna who had come up beside the Time Lord. Magambo nodded and saluted towards Donna. "Ma'am, an honor to meet you, as well."

Donna grinned, despite her splitting headache. "Now that's what I'm talking about!"

The Doctor would have enjoyed the moment as well, had his mind not already been on the next task. "Captain Magambo, I'm afraid to say there's good news and bad news to the next piece of information I have for you regarding this situation."

"What's that, Doctor?" the Captain questioned.

"Well, you see, this has yet to be reported to UNIT, but I have a new twin. Due to a biological metacrisis during the not too long-ago incursion with the Daleks. The good news is, I'm sure he's well on his way to determining a way to get back—," he glanced at the skeleton then continued, "-safely."

At that moment one of the soldiers approached with a phone. "Urgent call, ma'am, relayed from HQ."

"Who is it?" Magambo said, slightly irritated.

"They said his name is Geoffrey Smith, brother of the Doctor." He nodded in the Doctor's direction. "He gave the Doctor's credentials as proof of authorization."

Before Magambo could respond, the Doctor grabbed the phone. "Geoff, Geoff is that you?" He then pulled the phone away from his ear and put it on speaker phone so the others could hear.

"Doctor? Oh Doctor, It is so good to hear your voice," Geoff said

"Geoff, are you okay? How are you feeling?" the Doctor asked.

"Okay, considering the trip we just took. A bit of a headache, but I suppose that's to be expected for wormhole travel via a double decker bus."

"We were right behind you when the bus disappeared! Donna—," the Doctor started to explain when Donna hit him on the arm.

"Was quite alarmed to see a bus disappear in the middle of the tunnel, as were we all!" She grabbed the phone and covered the microphone, whispering to the Doctor, "He does _not_ need to know what happened right now! You think worrying over me is going to help him focus on getting back from whereever he is? That is more important right now than me passing out!"

The Doctor frowned, but took the phone back from her in time to hear Geoff ask another question. "So, you're at the tunnel with UNIT?"

"Yes, we were in one of the police cars that was chasing you. Geoff, where are you?" the Doctor continued questioning.

"I'm on the bus. Apart from that, not a clue, ecept it's very pretty and pretty dangerous," Geoff answered.

"A body came through here. Have you sustained any more fatalities?" this time Captain Magambo asked the question.

"No, and we're not going to, but I'm stuck. And without the TARDIS I can't analyze that wormhole." Geoff said.

"Captain, can you have the TARDIS brought here? It's in an alley near the International Gallery," Donna asked the Captain.

The Captain nodded. "Yes, ma'am. In the meantime, we have a scientific advisor on site. Doctor Malcolm Taylor. Just the man you need, he's a genius."

The Doctor blew out a breath. "Hmph, we'll see about that."

* * *

*A few minutes later, stepping into UNIT Mobile HQ*

"Doctor Taylor, this is the Doctor," Magambo introduced the two men.

"Oh, no, I'm alright now, thanks. It was just a bit of a sore throat. Although, I've got to be honest, a cup of tea might be nice," Malcolm responded.

Magambo sighed, irritated. "It's _the_ Doctor."

Malcolm Taylor stared at the man in front of him, frozen. "Do you mean 'the Doctor' Doctor?"

"I know, we all dream of meeting him one day, but—" Magambo said sympathetically, but was interrupted.

"I'm standing right here, you know," the Doctor said, a bit of irritation in his voice.

"And I'm still on the phone, waiting," Geoff said over the speaker phone.

"Um, yes, hello Doctor. Blimey I can't believe I'm actually meeting you. I've read all the files." Malcolm said, nervously, then looked at the phone. "Who's that? It sounds just like you?"

"Really? What was your favorite? The giant robot? No, no, hold on, sorry. Let's sort out the wormhole. This," he said, lifting up the phone as he continued, "is my twin brother, Geoff. Long story, no time."

"Malcolm, something's not making sense here. I've got a storm and a wormhole, and I can't help thinking there's a connection. I need a complete full range analysis of that wormhole. Of the whole thing," Geoff said over the speaker.

"Well, I've probably got the wrong idea, but I've wired up an integrator. I thought it could measure the energy signature," Malcolm explained.

"No, no, no," the Doctor said from beside him. "That'll never work—"

"Listen—," Geoff said over the phone.

"It's quite extraordinary, though. I'm measuring an oscillation of fifteen Malcolms per second."

"Fifteen what?" Geoff asked.

"Fifteen Malcolms. It's my own little term. A wavelength parcel of ten kilohertz operating in four dimensions equals one Malcolm," he explained.

"You named a unit of measurement after yourself?" the Doctor asked.

"Well, it didn't do Mr. Watt any harm. Furthermore, one hundred Malcolms equals a Bernard."

"And who's that?" Geoff asked.

"Your dad?" the Doctor added in question.

"No, don't be ridiculous. That's Quatermass."

"Right. Fine. But before I die of old age—" the Doctor began.

"That would be quite an achievement," Geoff piped in from his side.

Donna had had enough. "Oh would you two stop and let the man explain. For once let someone else be the smartest man in the room without getting all in a huff because they sound as bonkers as you normally do."

"Right," Malcolm grinned. "I like her. So listen, I set the scanner to register what it can't detect and inverted the image."

"You did what?" Geoff asked over the speaker phone.

"Is that wrong?" the scientist asked.

'No, Malcolm. That's Brilliant. So you can actually measure the wormhole! Okay!" Geoff replied.

"I admit, that is genius!" the Doctor exclaimed and patted the man on the back.

Malcolm's grin was beaming as he turned to the Captain. "The Doctor called me a genius."

"Yes, I know. I heard," Magambo replied.

"Now, run a capacity scan. I need a full report. Call me back when you've done it," Geoff said and hung up the phone before the Doctor could say anything.

The Doctor hadn't noticed Donna rubbing her forehead, but frowned as he did see her leaving without saying anything. He started to leave but turned back. "Malcolm, you're my new best friend, now get to running those reports!"

He heard Malcolm shouting something back, but the door had already closed behind him as he looked around in the cool night air for Donna. He found her leaned up against the side of the mobile trailer. "Donna? What's wrong?"

"I'm fine. Just all that mumbo jumbo you all keep chattering on with giving me a headache again." She waved him off.

"Your headache hasn't gone away since Geoff disappeared, has it?" He frowned as he looked her over.

She looked up at him, and he could see the pain in her eyes. "No. No, it hasn't."

He sighed and ran his hands down her bare arms, the short sleeve shirt she wore didn't protect her from the chill in the air, but she was warm-almost hot-to the touch He didn't need to scan her to guess what might be happening.


	8. Chapter 8

Over the next two hours the Doctor went between Malcolm and Donna, trying to assist Malcolm with his tests and measurements. Malcolm had reported his findings to Geoff who was continuing to handle things on his end.

He stepped back out of the trailer after one more visit with Malcolm, leaving him to prepare the compressed burst of feedback on a counter-oscillation that would be needed to close the wormhole when Geoff got the bus back through. When he stepped outside, he found Donna on her knees, head in her hands. He ran to her and slid to his knees in front of her. "Donna! What is it?"

"It's getting worse. It's just getting worse, Doctor. My head, it hurts so much. And I feel like I'm burning inside" She looked up, and he saw tears streaming down her eyes, and then they began to glow. He grabbed her and held her tight. "Just hold on, Donna. Just a few more moments and Geoff will be back."

A flash of light and the bus came barreling back through the wormhole, flying this time, instead of driving.

* * *

By the time Geoff disembarked the bus, the Doctor had his coat and jacket off, holding a completely still Donna in his arms. He was rocking her gently in his arms, tears falling down his face.

"Sir, sir!" a soldier called out as he ran up to Geoff. "I'm to escort you directly to the Doctor and his companion, Ms. Noble. Just over here, sir. It's an emergency, sir."

Geoff's face flipped from joy to utter concern in a split second. "What's happened?"

He turned the direction the soldier directed and saw them and immediately broke out in a run, sliding down to his knees opposite the Doctor. "What happened?" he asked again, this time to his brother.

"As soon as the bus disappeared she went into shock and passed out. She woke back up, but had a headache that kept getting worse, and she was burning up. Geoff, her eyes started to glow—it looked just like regeneration, but then she passed out again. I just—I just don't know—I can't—"

"Doctor, the TARDIS has arrived!" Magambo yelled as a large truck pulled up with a large covered box on the back. A soldier hopped onto the back of the truck and pulled away the covering to reveal the TARDIS.

"Finally, help me get her on board, now!" the Doctor yelled as he picked her up and walked towards the truck. Geoff ran ahead of him and pulled himself up onto the flatbed, then held out his arms and lifted her out of the Doctor's arms. The Doctor hopped up and tried to take her away from him.

"No, Doctor. I need to carry her. I need to be close to her now. We'll have to do this together."

The Doctor nodded and moved ahead enough to unlock and open the TARDIS. Geoff followed close behind and they shut the doors behind them. The ship called out its own concern as they approached the console. The Doctor made quick work of putting them into the Vortex before they continued out of the console room.

The Doctor stopped in front of Donna's room, but Geoff tried to continue on. "Doctor, we should get her to the medbay," Geoff said quickly.

"No, I promised her. No scans. I'm not breaking my promise. Not now. Not ever," the Doctor said firmly. "Come on, lay her on her bed."

* * *

Six hours later, Donna finally woke up. She found herself lying on her own bed, still fully clothed. She turned her head towards the other side of her bed and found Geoff sitting up, holding the book he read in one hand, his other hand resting on her shoulder. He immediately sensed she had woken and looked down at her with a smile. She felt something against her other side before she looked to find the Doctor, bent over, head resting in his crossed arms that were against her side on the bed.

"Ssshh, he's only just fallen asleep," Geoff whispered. "It's the first he's slept since before the Crucible."

"Daft Spaceman," she whispered, then sighed. "How long was I out that time?"

"Six hours," he answered. "I've maintained contact to try and help your brain regain balance, since obviously my absence is what caused the trauma."

"And what did you two figure out about that?" she asked.

"Figure out? What would we be able to figure out? We've both been right here the entire time, by your side. All we knew to do was stay with you, me to maintain contact, and him because he was too scared to leave you. For fear something might happen, and because he's too honorable to break his promise."

"You mean—after all that—I was out six hours—and he still didn't scan me?" she asked, in awe, as she looked down at the head of the Time Lord she loved. She wanted to move her hand to run through that hair, but her arm was pinned by his pressed against her side.

Geoff shook his head. "Oh no, he wouldn't dare. I tried to get him to let me take you to the medbay. He refused. I tried to give him his sonic back. He refused to even _touch_ it. He kept saying—he promised you and he wasn't breaking that promise. No matter what."

* * *

The Doctor awoke to the sound of his sonic screwdriver. His head flew up so fast that for a moment the room felt like it was spinning around him, then his senses recalibrated and he saw Geoff running the sonic screwdriver in the air over Donna's body.

"What are you doing?" he barked in question at his twin before grabbing the sonic from his hands.

"He's doing what I asked him to, Spaceman," Donna replied quietly, placing a hand on his arm.

The Doctor's gaze flew to the redhead. "Donna!?" he gasped out as he collapsed down in a heap, half over the top of her stomach, half off the bed.

It took her a moment to realize his body was shuddering as he wept over her. "Ssshhh, sshhh, Doctor. I'm here. I'm okay now. I'm awake. I'm alive. We're all okay now. You're not rid of me yet." She rubbed his back and finally ran a hand through his hair. Eventually her words and movements seemed to calm him down.

After a few minutes, he lifted himself back up off her lap and looked at her. The mix of emotions in his eyes was evident to her, but his words made sure things were clear. "Donna. My Donna. I don't know how many more times I can do this. First, on the Crucible, you and the TARDIS were gone. Then you were shocked by Davros. Then you passed out when Geoff disappeared. Then you—," he couldn't finish that time. "I just don't know if I can keep going through this—this fear—I don't know how many more times my hearts can break—"

She looked down, and saw there, on her lap, the sonic screwdriver. She picked it up, holding it in her hand a moment before picking his hand up in hers and resting the sonic screwdriver on his palm, wrapping his fingers around it herself. He looked at her questioningly and she nodded.

"Are you sure, Donna?" he asked. "Because if you let me do this—I'm not going to stop till I figure out what's going on."

She took a deep breath as she considered it, then nodded again, unsure of what words to put with her acceptance of what needed to happen. It was all he needed to know, he hopped up off the bed and was waving the sonic over her quickly. He stopped a moment and looked at it, ran it over her again, then held it up to his ear. One last focused scan over her head, another glance, and he was running towards the door.

"I've got to get to the medbay!" he shouted, stopped quickly and turned to call out, "Geoff, get her there, now!" Before either could respond, he was running full speed out the door and down the hall.

"Thank you," Geoff said as he held out his hand to her.

She took his hand and then after slowly getting up off the bed, wrapped her arm around his waist to help her stay balanced as they walked. She still felt a bit weak. "For what?" she asked.

"For letting him do this. Letting him try to fix it. I know it frightens you. But, whatever happens, he needs this," he explained.

"I'm not frightened anymore about what we'll find out. After what happened today—I want—I _need_ to know too."


	9. Chapter 9

When the Doctor was maniacally trying to solve a problem, Donna observed, it was almost like he was dancing. At least that was her observation as Geoff helped her hobble into the medbay. They watched him hopping, jogging, backpedaling, and sidestepping around the room from one piece of equipment to another. Of course, he also sounded like he was having a conversation with himself. "Oh, that's it. No, no, no. That's not it. Yes! Wait, what's that. No, no, that can't be! Oh yes, that's brilliant!"

"Want to bring the rest of us in on your conversation, Spaceman?" Donna said with a smirk.

"Oh, Donna! Geoff! Please, come in! I need you both to lay down on a bed, please," the Doctor said, waving towards two of the three cots .

"Both of us?" Geoff questioned a bit incredulously.

'Yes. Both of you. We need to get a full scan of both of you to see what happened in the metacrisis, and what's going on since then, to see why you two are linked so closely.

Geoff let out an exasperated sigh and moved Donna to one of the cots before sitting on the one next to her. They both laid down and the Doctor tapped a button on the screen in front of him to begin the full scan. A light over each of their cots shone down over top them and slowly moved over the length of their bodies.

* * *

Hours had passed and the Doctor was pouring over scans on the screens. He had grown quiet, which worried Donna especially. She'd take talkative, annoying Doctor any day over quiet, concerned Doctor. As she and Geoff watched, they glanced at each other occasionally, and she could sense that he was just as concerned as she was.

"Doctor, _please_ , there has to be something you can tell us," Donna pleaded with him.

She'd said similar just about every half hour, and he'd growl at her with "Not now, Donna!" or "Not yet, Donna!" every time. This time, as he sat hunched over a desk, staring down at a print out, upon hearing her plea, he sighed, ran his hands through his hair, and stood, turning away from both of them and walking towards the door. "We've got to get to Torchwood," was all he said.

Geoff and Donna both looked at each other at the same time, then back towards the now vacant doorway.

"Something's wrong, Geoff. He's being too quiet."

"Way too quiet," Geoff added.

* * *

As the TARDIS took them through the Vortex, on it's way to Torchwood, Donna resigned herself to the fact that the end of her life must be coming sooner than later, based on the Doctor's behavior. What else could be causing him to act so strangely? What, she wondered, did that mean for Geoff? She knew the Doctor would be sad to lose her, but to lose his new brother who he'd only just barely gotten to know would be terrible.

The Doctor materialized the ship right in Torchwood, sending bells and whistles off throughout the underground base. He marched out of the TARDIS and straight to Jack's office without allowing Donna or Geoff another word.

They came out of the TARDIS and gave greetings to Ianto and Gwen, whom they were sure the Doctor had probably ignored. Ianto was kind of enough to serve them coffee as the four of them tried to ignore the yelling coming from Jack's office. After several very awkward minutes it grew quiet in the office, and it was another several minutes before finally the two came out of the office and approached the conference table where Donna and Geoff now sat dejectedly.

Jack stared at the Doctor, urging him to talk. Finally, with a deep sigh, the Time Lord began, "I've come up with a solution."

"A solution to what?" Geoff said, confused. "Doctor, you haven't told us a thing since you scanned us!"

"Well, a solution to you two being linked, obviously!" he started to snap, then squeezed his eyes shut a moment, running his hands through his hair. "Sorry-I'm sorry-," he said, more gently this time, then sighed again. "The metacrisis, it was just too much-neither of your bodies are handling it. Geoff's a bit better than yours Donna, only because he got just a tad more Time Lord than human, but never the less, if you stay as you are, you'll not be able to be separated without dire consequences."

"But, you said you have a solution. What kind of solution can there be?"

The Doctor's head hung low-yes, he had come up with a solution, but he wasn't very happy with what it meant.

Jack, having seen the Doctor's loss of words, decided to speak up. "The two of you have a choice to make. One with three options. Number one-you stay as you are, and have to be linked the rest of your lives. However, because there's never been a metacrisis like this before, there's no telling how it will effect your lifespan-either negatively or positively. Number two and three both involve this," Jack said before hoisting up onto table a large biomatter container he had carried down from his office when he and the Doctor came out earlier.

"What is it?"

"Chula nanogenes," Jack said, as if it explained everything.

"Excuse me?" Donna said.

"Oh," Geoff said in sudden realization. He had the Doctor's memories-he knew exactly what these things were-and what they could do.

"Chula nanogenes, when presented with a template of the DNA to replicate, will change damaged DNA to match."

"Okay, so it repairs DNA. What's the choice?" Donna asked, still not understanding.

"The metacrisis mixed up your DNA, Donna. Half Time Lord, half human." Jack glanced at the Doctor, whose eyes remained downcast. "Now, you have to pick. Which do you want to be?"

Donna's gaze had been going back and forth between Jack and the biomatter container since he had started talking, and only now did it land on the Doctor. "Doctor? Why are you so quiet?"

"I'm-I"m just going to go check a few things in the TARDIS while you all discuss your options. Just let me know what you decide. We can have you back to your mother pretty quickly from here," he quickly muttered before stepping the few feet away back to his ship.

Donna looked on in hurt as he walked away. When the ship doors closed, she turned to Jack. "Jack, I don't understand. What's wrong with him?"

Jack took a deep breath, then turned to Ianto and Gwen. "Guys, do you mind giving us the room for a few minutes?"

Gwen and Ianto nodded, unsure what exactly was going on, but confident enough in the seriousness of Jack's request to obey. Once they were out of earshot, Jack sat down next to Donna and turned in his seat to face her. "Donna-the Doctor, he thought-he had hoped-that perhaps the metacrisis had made you enough of a Time Lord that you'd be able to stay with him for...quite a bit longer than the average human life expectancy. But, he's pretty convinced that when given the option, you'll choose to go back to being a human over being alien. It's not that he wouldn't still want you traveling with him. But his deepest fear is that you'll change your mind-that once you go back to being human, you'll decide you'd rather just stay home. Because the best method of using these nanogenes is to put you in close contact with your mother, and release them. Your DNA will be matched to hers, your closest living relative."

Donna looked down, taking in all Jack was saying. All that she had learned in the past 48 hours-she was still coming to grips with the Doctor's feelings for her-but he had proven himself by holding up his end of the bargain when it came to her request not to scan her. But now-she had to choose... "So, I can go back to being a human, or-"

"Or, you can become a Time Lord, you'd be able to regenerate, live thousands of years, and, if you wish, travel with the Doctor for just about as close to 'forever' as you can get."

"That's all I ever wanted, but-"

"But it means you'd no longer be human."

"I'm already not human now, aren't I?"

"But now you have the chance to go back."

"It's not that he wouldn't want you with him if you were human, Donna," Geoff now spoke up. He'd been quiet through the whole conversation, up till now. "He loved you just as much when you were human as he does now. But for the briefest of moments, I think he saw the possibility that he really would have you with him for _his_ forever, as opposed to the forty or so more years you would have as a human. Remember, Donna, he's lived over nine hundred years, he's seen a lot of companions come and go, seen a lot of friends and loved ones say goodbye, or die. He'll take forever with you, whether it's your forever or his-he's just in mourning for that time line he saw for the briefest of moments-the one where he finally had someone to grow old with."

A tear rolled down Donna's cheek as she listened to Geoff. He was quiet for a short moment before she jumped out of her seat and marched towards the TARDIS.

* * *

"You daft alien!" she shouted as soon as the door closed behind her and she saw him standing at the console.

He frowned in confusion. "What!?"

"You heard me! You daft alien! After all this time, you think you know what I'm thinking?" She marched further towards him. "You think you know what decision I'm going to make before I've even been given the opportunity to make it? You're so sure that not only would I pick being human again, that I'd run off and leave you and go back to that stupid boring life I had before? You _really_ are a _daft alien!"_ She was standing right in front of him now, and as she finished her tirade, she grabbed him by the lapels of his coat, pulled him towards her, and laid a kiss on him that he'd remember for the rest of his regenerations. This was no kiss for shock value, no this kiss was to plant a clear and plain message in his head-Donna Noble was not one to assume things about, Donna Noble was a force to be reckoned with, and Donna Noble...was in love-with him. When she finally pushed him back away, they both gasped for breath momentarily, and she whispered. "You daft alien-you think I'm going to let you be rid of me in another forty or fifty years? You're gonna have to put up with me for a lot longer than that!"


	10. Chapter 10

When the Doctor stepped back out of the TARDIS a few minutes later, with Donna following suit, he was looking a bit like a deer caught in headlights. Donna had a satisfied grin on her face, however, that made Jack chuckle.

The Doctor cleared his throat. 'Yes, well, that's decided then, Donna's made her choice. So—" he cleared his throat again, and instinctively his hand went to wipe at his mouth, though nothing was there—Donna had been sure of that. He then turned to his brother. "What about you, Geoffrey? Any thoughts?"

Geoff smiled at his brother—happy Donna had cleared up the little misunderstanding. Poor Doctor, he never seemed to get over his fear that Donna might decide to run off and leave him. But with this latest revelation in the relationship between his brother and Donna—it cemented further in his mind his decision. "I rather thought I might try the best of both worlds."

The Doctor frowned. "But, Geoff—you can't stay as you are—not unless Donna did as well. One of you without the other would inevitably die sooner than later."

"Oh, I don't mean to stay this way. No, I'd like to be a full Time Lord again, thank you."

"Then what did you mean, Geoff?" Donna asked as she came to stand next to the Doctor, reaching over and taking his hand in hers. The Doctor immediately noticed and looked down at their hands, smiling.

"I mean to spend some time here on Earth. Yes, I'll be a Time Lord, but I do still have many of Donna's own memories of Earth, and as many if not more from you, Doctor. I'd like to do some of my own exploring—and I thought, perhaps, some work too."

"Work? You're going to get a _job_?" the Doctor said, almost in disgust.

Geoff chuckled. "Yes, but nothing we're not used to. I thought, if it'd be alright with Jack, that I might do a little work for Torchwood. A consultant perhaps."

Jack beamed. "Alright? It's more than alright, it would be outstanding!"

Geoff could tell the Doctor was feeling a bit more apprehension. He stood and approached his brother. "It's a _good_ idea, Doctor. It'll give you and Donna some time to adventure _together_ while she gets used to what it means to be a Time Lady. It'll give me time to explore what it means to be—me, not you, not her—just, me." He placed his hand on the other man's shoulders. "And eventually I'll come back on the TARDIS and travel with you both. Don't think you'll get rid of me so easily," he finished with a smile and pulled the Doctor into a hug.

"So, shall we get started?" Jack asked, picking up the container of nanogenes. "I recommend we do this in the medbay—just in case."

* * *

**Two Weeks Later**

"Geoffrey H. Smith reporting for duty!" The Time Lord was just a bit enthusiastic as he bounced through the rotating door of the Torchwood Hub.

Gwen rolled her eyes. "You do know you don't have to say that every time you come in, right?"

"Good morning, Geoff!" Jack said as he came out of his office. Any word from the Doctor and Donna?"

"Oh yes! They sent pictures!" Geoff pulled a phone out of his pocket as Jack came down to stand beside him.

As Geoff flipped through the pictures, Jack smiled. "Looks like quite the honeymoon."

"I'm quite surprised though," Gwen said as she peeked over at the pictures. 'A ship that travels through time and space and they're honeymooning on a beach in Greece?"

"Well," Geoff drawled, "when traveling through time and space is what you do all the rest of the time, time on a beach isn't such a bad idea."

"Not to mention the fact that Donna gave the Doctor a firm reminder that he'd been promising her a nice quiet beach holiday the whole time they were traveling together before."

Geoff grinned. "That too."

* * *

"Once I'm done with this magazine, I'm going to go get in my swimsuit and head to the pool."

He waggled his eyebrows. "I could assist with that effort, if needed."

Her right eyebrow raised as she looked at her husband. "That depends."

He frowned. "On what?"

"On if you are nice to the TARDIS while you finish up your work."

He scoffed. "I'm always nice to the TARDIS!"

Her eyebrow rose higher. "Oh really? Are you sure I'm the Time Lady you want to try that one with? I've seen the way you bang about with that hammer, mister."

He sighed and decided to change the subject. "You sent Geoff the pictures?"

"Mm-hmm," Donna said from where she sat in the jump seat, flipping through pages of a fashion magazine.

"You don't feel terribly guilty for having the TARDIS fake those pictures? For lying to him and Jack about where we're spending our honeymoon?" the Doctor said as he slid half way back under the console of the TARDIS.

"Nope," she said as she flipped another page.

The Doctor slid out from under the console again and looked up at his new wife. "And you're sure this is what you want?"

She laid the magazine down, still open to the page she'd been reading, and looked down at him. "I'm spending time with my husband, we're both doing things we enjoy—you tinkering, me reading. Next we're going to go pay a visit to the pool, then spend some time in the library watching movies on the big screen. What's not to love about that?"

"But I really _did_ promise you a nice quiet beach holiday, Donna."

"And there will be plenty of time for that, Doctor." She took a deep breath and thought about everything the past week had held. "It really hasn't been that many days ago since we were fighting the Daleks and saving all of reality, then that whole mess with Geoff disappearing to that desert planet and my brain going all wonky. I wasn't kidding when I said I'm just as content spending time with you on the TARDIS as I would be on a beach right now."

The Doctor rolled to his side and propped his head on his hand as he looked at her. "I love you, Donna Noble."

She grinned and picked her magazine back up. "And I love you, Spaceman. Now, tinker away. I've got a few more pages to finish up. Then it's on to the next moment of forever."

"On to what?"

She peeked up over the top of the magazine. "The next moment of forever, Spaceman. We've got forever now, and we're going to enjoy each moment."

THE END


End file.
